The Diary of a Madman, the Government Inspector, and Selected Stories Characters

This Study Guide consists of approximately 25 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more -
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Narrator from The Diary of a Madman

The narrator from The Diary of a Madman calls himself several different names throughout the story, but the reader cannot assume that any of these names are truly his own. The man is a clerk in a government office who is quickly going insane. In fact, this man comes to believe that dogs can speak English, that they write letters to one another, and that he can find out if his beloved loves him by reading the dog's letters. Later still, the narrator begins to call himself King Ferdinand after becoming obsessed with the idea that he is the long lost heir to the Spanish throne.

The diary the narrator writes in this novel is filled with inconsistencies, odd dates and language, and other things that allow the reader to watch as this man quickly goes insane. At the beginning, however, he...